This is where Priyanka looks most like herself – confident, modern and stylishly put together. The makeup and wardrobe channels key trends for 2012 such as colour blocking, bold prints, pastel shades, metallic basics and big silhouettes.

Start with a luminous finish, medium coverage foundation (layered over a primer) – like Lancome’s Teinte Miracle – and dot on the concealer where needed. Unlike the ’60s look, today skin is supposed to look natural and dewy, so don’t be afraid of letting your true colours show through.

Buff on a setting powder where needed (in particularly shiny areas such as the T-zone). The idea is to look fresh and dewy rather than matter and powdery.

Contour with a peachy-pink blush, liquid highlighter and bronzer.

Shade the eyes with a coppery-pink shadow (such as MAC’s Pink Frost), then line the upper lashes with black liquid liner that extends just to the tip of your eyes. Curl lashes, add a volumising mascara and fill in your brows. If eyes still seem undefined, wet the eye shadow and smudge it onto the lower lash line.

Lips are matte and not very precisely defined – preferably in a natural pink or dusky brown shade.

Hair is important, worn either straight or in long and loose waves, with reddish-blonde and gold highlights to add a sense of edgy drama to the look.

Hence, it is fitting that Priyanka consulted Saira Banu to get the part right, while Manish turned to Asha Parekh. The first aspect they discovered: there was a certain properness about the 60s in India, tehzeeb (manners) were important, the clothes were sharp and formal. This was the time of the stylish short kameez with churidaar pyjamas and fitted saris in shimmering, sparkling hues. Add to this the beehives, the Sharmila Tagore hair, the winged tip cat’s eye makeup and what you had were young, stylish, women who were contemporary and yet retained a uniquely Indian charisma.

On the makeup front, the deep red lips of the ’40s and ’50s were no longer fashionable. With the addition of titanium to their lipsticks, Max Factor were bringing out pastel pearly-pink shades. These soon caught on with young girls who initially wore the colours because they were acceptable to parents but the trend stuck and spread. Instead, big, dramatic eyes became the ultimate fashion ploy: winged liner was everywhere (just as it is now, in the summer of 2012!) and mascara became a vital component; preferably so thickly applied that the lashes clumped together in spikes.

Creating the vintage look starts with a full coverage foundation – like Makeup Forever’s HD formulation. Put a primer underneath and use concealers where needed, especially in the under-eye area.

Start by figuring out where you want the wing tip to end on the outer corner of your eye. Use the end of your eyebrow as a guide for placement: the end of the tip should be in line with the end of your eyebrow.

Draw a line from the inner corner of your eye to the end of the tip, and fill in the space with the liner, getting right to the base of your lashes. In creating this line, you can either follow the shape of your eye, in which case the “wing” may be more pronounced, or you can take your liner in a fairly straight line to meet the tip. In this case, the line will be more dramatic. [Tip: Use a pencil to sketch out the line – they are more forgiving. When you are happy, with the shape, trace over it with the liquid liner or the gel liner.]

Ideally, leave the bottom lash bare. However, if that makes you seem washed out, just smudge a charcoal eye shadow close to the lash line.

Though the cacophony of cultures, countries and eras means there is not much space left to tell an actual story, Teri Meri Kahaani still worked for me as a visual feast whose three distinctly different courses were brought together by one theme: Priyanka Chopra’s gorgeous looks through the span of a century. The lady has blossomed in the hands of Mickey Contractor and Manish Malhotra through every frame and I have been receiving tonnes of mails on how to recreate the various looks. So, here goes Part 1 of how to get Priyanka Chopra’s looks in Teri Meri Kahaani:

1910: Aradhana in Sargoda, a village near Lahore in undivided India

To put things in perspective, this was the peak of the Indian freedom struggle and commercially available makeup was non-existent. As the daughter of a freedom fighter, it was even more unlikely that Aradhana would be heavily made up. Hence, the more natural look with an increased emphasis on clothes makes this the perfect get-up for those looking to offset uber-bright clothes with a nude-ish face or channel “pure” Indian aesthetics that are completely uncoloured by any other culture.

“When we were doing research, the most interesting thing was the look of 1910, specially around Lahore, the Punjab-Pakistan border. Over there the ladies would dress up with the dupattas on their heads, very delicate jewellery and a lot of phulkari, so Manish Malhotra made sure that the clothes were very authentic and colours were very Indian and very bright at the same time,” says Priyanka, explaining the vivid jewel-tones and gorgeous embroidery that she sports during this segment.

Too much colour, however, was frowned upon on the makeup front. The height of fashion would be a pinch of vermillion rubbed in to the cheeks and lips, rice powder to dust the nose and the kohl to define the eyes. Thankfully, we have better options today, so to recreate Priyanka’s ‘Aradhana’:

Dot a primer all over the face and blend for perfect application.

Layer on a foundation that makes you look slightly paler – skin that was untouched by the sun was considered a mark of wealth.

Rouge the apples of your cheeks with a very soft, dusky pink colour that looks as if you are blushing naturally; use a makeup sponge to blend away any hard edges.

Exaggerate eye brows with a brow pencil that’s a notch darker than your original brow colour – during the 1910s, brows looked more natural, even bushy. Fill in with feather-soft strokes for an application that does not appear harsh or unnatural.

Define your eyes by smudging a black pencil on both top and bottom lash lines; do not leave any space between the product and your lashes. Drag a smudging brush gently over the edges of your eyeliner to create a sooty (not smoky) effect – you are aiming to bring your eyes out but not overpower them.